Grid of beams (GoB) adaptation in a wireless communications circuit, particularly for a wireless communications system (WCS)

ABSTRACT

Grid of beams (GoB) adaptation in a wireless communications circuit, particularly for a wireless communications system (WCS), is disclosed. The wireless communications circuit may be provided in the WCS to provide radio frequency (RF) coverage in a wireless communications cell. In this regard, an antenna array is provided in the wireless communications circuit to radiate the GoB, which includes a number of RF beams corresponding to an RF communications signal(s), in the wireless communications cell. In examples discussed herein, the wireless communications circuit can be configured to detect a coverage condition change in the wireless communications cell and modify the GoB accordingly. By adapting the GoB to the coverage condition change, it may be possible to reduce processing overhead and improve resource usage, data throughput, and system adaptability of the wireless communications circuit, thus helping to optimize RF coverage in the wireless communications cell.

BACKGROUND

The disclosure relates generally to a wireless communicationsapparatus(es), such as a remote unit(s), a remote radio head(s), or amobile device(s), particularly in a wireless communications system(WCS), such as a distributed communications system (DCS), a small cellradio access network (RAN), or a distributed antenna system (DAS),configured to support radio frequency (RF) beamforming.

Wireless customers are increasingly demanding wireless communicationsservices, such as cellular communications services and Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi) services. Thus, small cells, and more recently Wi-Fi services,are being deployed indoors. At the same time, some wireless customersuse their wireless communications devices in areas that are poorlyserviced by conventional cellular networks, such as inside certainbuildings or areas where there is little cellular coverage. One responseto the intersection of these two concerns has been the use of DCSs asWCSs, such as a small cell RAN or DAS. DCSs include a central unit ornode that is configured to transmit or distribute communications signalsto remote units typically over physical medium, such as electricalconductors or optical fiber. The remote units are configured to receiveand distribute such communications signals to client devices within theantenna range of the remote unit. DCSs can be particularly useful whendeployed inside buildings or other indoor environments where thewireless communications devices may not otherwise be able to effectivelyreceive RF signals from a source.

In this regard, FIG. 1 illustrates a DCS 100 that is configured todistribute communications services to remote coverage areas102(1)-102(N), where ‘N’ is the number of remote coverage areas. The DCS100 in FIG. 1 is provided in the form of a wireless DCS, such as a DAS104 in this example. The DAS 104 can be configured to support a varietyof communications services that can include cellular communicationsservices, wireless communications services, such as RF identification(RFID) tracking, Wi-Fi, local area network (LAN), and wireless LAN(WLAN), wireless solutions (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Global Positioning System(GPS) signal-based, and others) for location-based services, andcombinations thereof, as examples. The remote coverage areas102(1)-102(N) are created by and centered on remote units 106(1)-106(N)connected to a central unit 108 (e.g., a head-end controller, a centralunit, or a head-end unit). The central unit 108 may be communicativelycoupled to a source transceiver 110, such as for example, a basetransceiver station (BTS) or a baseband unit (BBU) In this example, thecentral unit 108 receives downlink communications signals 112D from thesource transceiver 110 to be distributed to the remote units106(1)-106(N). The downlink communications signals 112D can include datacommunications signals and/or communications signaling signals, asexamples. The central unit 108 is configured with filtering circuitsand/or other signal processing circuits that are configured to support aspecific number of communications services in a particular frequencybandwidth (i.e., frequency communications bands). The downlinkcommunications signals 112D are communicated by the central unit 108over a communications link 114 over their frequency to the remote units106(1)-106(N).

With continuing reference to FIG. 1, the remote units 106(1)-106(N) areconfigured to receive the downlink communications signals 112D from thecentral unit 108 over the communications link 114. The downlinkcommunications signals 112D are configured to be distributed to therespective remote coverage areas 102(1)-102(N) of the remote units106(1)-106(N). The remote units 106(1)-106(N) are also configured withfilters and other signal processing circuits that are configured tosupport all or a subset of the specific communications services (i.e.,frequency communications bands) supported by the central unit 108. In anon-limiting example, the communications link 114 may be a wiredcommunications link, a wireless communications link, or an opticalfiber-based communications link. The remote units 106(1)-106(N) mayinclude RF transmitter/receiver circuits 116(1)-116(N) and antennas118(1)-118(N), respectively. The antennas 118(1)-118(N) are operablyconnected to the RF transmitter/receiver circuits 116(1)-116(N) towirelessly distribute the communications services to user equipment (UE)120 within the respective remote coverage areas 102(1)-102(N). Theremote units 106(1)-106(N) are also configured to receive uplinkcommunications signals 112U from the UE 120 in the respective remotecoverage areas 102(1)-102(N) to be distributed to the source transceiver110.

Conventionally, the remote units 106(1)-106(N) may be configured tocommunicate the downlink communications signals 112D and the uplinkcommunications signals 112U with the UE 120 based on a third-generation(3G) wireless communication technology, such as wideband code-divisionmultiple access (WCDMA), and/or a fourth-generation (4G) wirelesscommunication technology, such as long-term evolution (LTE). As wirelesscommunication technology continues to evolve, a new fifth-generation(5G) new-radio (NR) (5G-NR) wireless communication technology hasemerged as a next generation wireless communication technology havingthe potential of achieving significant improvement in data throughput,coverage range, signal efficiency, and access latency over the existing3G and 4G wireless communication technologies. As such, it may benecessary to upgrade or reconfigure the remote units 106(1)-106(N) tocommunicate the downlink communications signals 112D and the uplinkcommunications signals 112U with the UE 120 based on the 5G-NR wirelesscommunication technologies.

The 5G-NR wireless communication technology may be implemented based ona millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum that is typically higher than 6 GHz,which makes the downlink communications signals 112D and the uplinkcommunications signals 112U more susceptible to propagation loss. Assuch, RF beamforming has become a core ingredient of the 5G-NR wirelesscommunication technology to help mitigate signal propagation loss in themmWave spectrum. In this regard, the antennas 118(1)-118(N) may bereplaced by an equal number of antenna arrays (not shown) each includingmultiple antennas (e.g., 4×4, 8×8, 16×16, etc.). Accordingly, the remoteunits 106(1)-106(N) may be configured to communicate the downlinkcommunications signals 112D and the uplink communications signals 112Uby forming and steering RF beams 122(1)-122(N) toward the UE 120. Byforming and steering the RF beams 122(1)-122(N) toward the UE 120, theremote units 106(1)-106(N) may communicate the downlink communicationssignals 112D and the uplink communications signals 112U with higherequivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) andsignal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), thus helping to mitigatethe propagation loss in the mmWave spectrum.

No admission is made that any reference cited herein constitutes priorart. Applicant expressly reserves the right to challenge the accuracyand pertinency of any cited documents.

SUMMARY

Embodiments disclosed herein include grid of beams (GoB) adaptation in awireless communications circuit, particularly for a wirelesscommunications system (WCS). The wireless communications circuit may beprovided in the WCS to provide radio frequency (RF) coverage in awireless communications cell (e.g., an indoor small cell). In thisregard, an antenna array is provided in the wireless communicationscircuit to radiate the GoB, which includes a number of RF beamscorresponding to an RF communications signal(s), in the wirelesscommunications cell. In examples discussed herein, the wirelesscommunications circuit can be configured to detect a coverage conditionchange (e.g., user density, building layout, throughput requirement,etc.) in the wireless communications cell and modify the GoBaccordingly. By adapting the GoB to the coverage condition change, itmay be possible to reduce processing overhead and improve resourceusage, data throughput, and system adaptability of the wirelesscommunications circuit, thus helping to optimize RF coverage in thewireless communications cell.

One exemplary embodiment of the disclosure relates to a wirelesscommunications circuit. The wireless communications circuit includes anantenna array comprising a plurality of radiating elements configured toradiate a GoB comprising a plurality of RF beams corresponding to an RFcommunications signal in a wireless communications cell. The wirelesscommunications circuit also includes a control circuit. The controlcircuit is configured to receive an indication signal indicative of acoverage condition change in the wireless communications cell. Thecontrol circuit is also configured to cause the antenna array to modifythe GoB in response to the coverage condition change in the wirelesscommunications cell.

An additional exemplary embodiment of the disclosure relates to a methodfor adapting a GoB in a wireless communications circuit. The methodincludes radiating a GoB comprising a plurality of RF beamscorresponding to an RF communications signal in a wirelesscommunications cell. The method also includes receiving an indicationsignal indicative of a coverage condition change in the wirelesscommunications cell. The method also includes modifying the GoB inresponse to the coverage condition change in the wireless communicationscell.

An additional exemplary embodiment of the disclosure relates to a WCS.The WCS includes a central unit. The WCS also includes a plurality ofremote units coupled to the central unit via a plurality ofcommunications mediums. The plurality of remote units is configured toreceive a plurality of downlink digital communications signals from thecentral unit via the plurality of communications mediums, respectively.The plurality of remote units is also configured to convert theplurality of downlink digital communications signals into a plurality ofdownlink RF communications signals, respectively. The plurality ofremote units is also configured to distribute the plurality of downlinkRF communications signals, respectively. The plurality of remote unitsis also configured to receive a plurality of uplink RF communicationssignals, respectively. The plurality of remote units is also configuredto convert the plurality of uplink RF communications signals into aplurality of uplink digital communications signals, respectively. Theplurality of remote units is configured to provide the plurality ofuplink digital communications signals to the central unit via theplurality of communications mediums, respectively. At least one remoteunit among the plurality of remote units includes an antenna arraycomprising a plurality of radiating elements configured to radiate a GoBcomprising a plurality of RF beams corresponding to an RF communicationssignal among the plurality of downlink RF communications signals in awireless communications cell. The at least one remote unit also includesa control circuit. The control circuit is configured to receive anindication signal indicative of a coverage condition change in thewireless communications cell. The control circuit is also configured tocause the antenna array to modify the GoB in response to the coveragecondition change in the wireless communications cell.

Additional features and advantages will be set forth in the detaileddescription which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the description or recognized by practicing theembodiments as described in the written description and claims hereof,as well as the appended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are merely exemplary, and areintended to provide an overview or framework to understand the natureand character of the claims.

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of thisspecification. The drawings illustrate one or more embodiment(s), andtogether with the description to explain principles and operation of thevarious embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wireless communicationssystem (WCS), such as a distributed communications system (DCS),configured to distribute communications services to remote coverageareas;

FIGS. 2A-2C are graphic diagrams providing exemplary illustration of anumber of fundamental aspects related to radio frequency (RF)beamforming;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wireless communicationscircuit provided in a WCS and configured to modify a grid of beams (GoB)radiated in a wireless communications cell in response to a coveragecondition change in the wireless communications cell;

FIGS. 4A-4C are graphic diagrams providing exemplary illustrations ofhow the wireless communications circuit of FIG. 3 modifies the GoB inresponse to the coverage condition change in the wireless communicationscell;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary process that can be employed bythe wireless communications circuit of FIG. 3 to modify the GoB inresponse to the coverage condition change in the wireless communicationscell;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary WCS provided in the formof an optical fiber-based WDS that is configured to include the wirelesscommunications circuit of FIG. 3 to modify the GoB in response to thecoverage condition change in the wireless communications cell;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary building infrastructurewith a deployed DCS, such as the optical fiber-based WDS in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary mobile telecommunicationsenvironment that includes an exemplary radio access network (RAN) thatincludes a mobile network operator (MNO) macrocell employing a radionode, a shared spectrum cell employing a radio node, an exemplary smallcell RAN employing a multi-operator radio node located within anenterprise environment, wherein any of the radio nodes can be configuredto incorporate the wireless communications circuit of FIG. 3 to modifythe GoB in response to the coverage condition change in the wirelesscommunications cell;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary distributed communicationssystem that supports 4G and 5G communications services, and wherein anyof the radio nodes can be configured to modify the GoB in response tothe coverage condition change in the wireless communications cell; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a representation of an exemplarycomputer system that can be included in or interface with any of thecomponents in the wireless communications circuit of FIG. 3, wherein theexemplary computer system is configured to execute instructions from anexemplary computer-readable medium to modify the GoB in response to thecoverage condition change in the wireless communications cell.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments disclosed herein include grid of beams (GoB) adaptation in awireless communications circuit, particularly for a wirelesscommunications system (WCS). The wireless communications circuit may beprovided in the WCS to provide radio frequency (RF) coverage in awireless communications cell (e.g., an indoor small cell). In thisregard, an antenna array is provided in the wireless communicationscircuit to radiate the GoB, which includes a number of RF beamscorresponding to an RF communications signal(s), in the wirelesscommunications cell. In examples discussed herein, the wirelesscommunications circuit can be configured to detect a coverage conditionchange (e.g., user density, building layout, throughput requirement,etc.) in the wireless communications cell and modify the GoBaccordingly. By adapting the GoB to the coverage condition change, itmay be possible to reduce processing overhead and improve resourceusage, data throughput, and system adaptability of the wirelesscommunications circuit, thus helping to optimize RF coverage in thewireless communications cell.

Before discussing a wireless communications circuit of the presentdisclosure configured to adapt a GoB to improve coverage, reducecomplexity and latency, and conserve energy, starting at FIG. 3, a briefoverview is first provided with reference to FIGS. 2A-2C to help explainsome fundamental aspects related to RF beamforming.

FIGS. 2A-2C are graphic diagrams providing exemplary illustrations of anumber of fundamental aspects related to RF beamforming. In general,beamforming refers to a technique that uses multiple antennas tosimultaneously radiate an RF signal in an RF spectrum, such as amillimeterwave (mmWave) spectrum. The multiple antennas, also called“antenna elements,” that are typically organized into an antenna array(e.g., 4×4, 8×8, 16×16, etc.) and separated from each other by at leastone-half (½) wavelength. The RF signal is pre-processed based on a beamweight set, which includes multiple beam weights corresponding to themultiple antennas, respectively, to generate multiple weighted RFsignals. The multiple weighted RF signals are then coupled to specificantennas in the antenna array for simultaneous radiation in the RFspectrum. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, by pre-processing the RF signalbased on multiple beam weight sets, it may be possible to form multipleRF beams 200 pointing to multiple directions radiating from antennaelements in an antenna array, respectively.

Each beam weight in a given beam weight set is a complex weightconsisting of a respective phase term and a respective amplitude term.The phase terms in the complex beam weight can be determined to causethe multiple simultaneously radiated RF signals to constructivelycombine in one direction to form the RF beams 200, while destructivelyaveraging out in other directions. In this regard, the phase term candetermine how the RF beams 200 is formed and which direction the RFbeams 200 is pointing to. On the other hand, the amplitude terms in thecomplex beam weight may determine how many of the antennas in theantenna array are utilized to simultaneously radiate the RF signals.Notably, when more antennas are utilized to simultaneously radiate theRF signals, the RF beams 200 will become more concentrated to have anarrower beamwidth and a higher beamformed antenna gain. In contrast,when fewer antennas are utilized to simultaneously radiate the RFsignals, the RF beams 200 will become more spreaded to have a widerbeamwidth and a lesser beamformed antenna gain. In this regard, theamplitude term can determine the beamwidth of the RF beams 200. In anon-limiting example, a beamwidth refers to a spatial spread of a mainlobe containing majority of the radiated power of an RF beam.

FIG. 2B is a graphic diagram of an exemplary spherical coordinate system202 that helps explain how the complex beam weight can be determined.The spherical coordinate system 202 includes an x-axis (X) 204, a y-axis(Y) 206, and a z-axis (Z) 208. The x-axis 204 and the y-axis 206collectively define an x-y plane 210, the y-axis 206 and the z-axis 208collectively define a y-z plane 212, and the x-axis 204 and the z-axis208 collectively define an x-z plane 214. Depending how the multipleantennas are arranged in the antenna array, a beam weight w_(n) may bedetermined based on equations (Eq. 1-Eq. 4) below.

The equation (Eq. 1) below illustrates how a beam weight w_(n) may bedetermined when the multiple antennas in the antenna array are arrangedlinearly along the y-axis 206.

$\begin{matrix}{w_{n} = {e^{{- j}\; 2\;\pi\;{n \cdot \frac{dy}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}\;\theta}\left( {0 \leq n \leq {N - 1}} \right)}} & \left( {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 1} \right)\end{matrix}$

In the equation (Eq. 1) above, ‘N’ represents a total number of theantennas in the antenna array and θ represents a zenith angle. Theequation (Eq. 2) below illustrates how the a beam weight w_(m,n) may bedetermined when the multiple antennas in the antenna array are arrangedin an M×N matrix in the x-y plane 210 in FIG. 2B.

$\begin{matrix}{w_{m,n} = {e^{{- j}\; 2\;\pi\;{m \cdot \frac{dx}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}\;\theta\;\cos\;\phi}e^{{- j}\; 2\;\pi\;{n \cdot \frac{dy}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}\;\theta\;\sin\;\phi}\mspace{14mu}\left( {{0 \leq m \leq {M - 1}},{0 \leq n \leq {N - 1}}} \right)}} & \left( {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 2} \right)\end{matrix}$

In the equation (Eq. 2) above, ‘M’ and ‘N’ represent the number of rowsand the number of columns of M×N matrix, respectively, and ϕ representsan azimuth angle. The equation (Eq. 3) below illustrates how the a beamweight w_(m,n) may be determined when the multiple antennas in theantenna array are arranged in an M×N matrix in the y-z plane 212 in FIG.2B.

$\begin{matrix}{w_{m,n} = {e^{{- j}\; 2\;\pi\;{m \cdot \frac{dz}{\lambda} \cdot \cos}\;\theta}{e^{{- j}\; 2\;\pi\;{n \cdot \frac{dy}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}\;\theta\;\sin\;\phi}\left( {{0 \leq m \leq {M - 1}},{0 \leq n \leq {N - 1}}} \right)}}} & \left( {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 3} \right)\end{matrix}$

The equation (Eq. 4) below illustrates how the a beam weight w_(m,n) maybe determined when the multiple antennas in the antenna array arearranged in an M×N matrix in the x-z plane 214 in FIG. 2B.

$\begin{matrix}{w_{m,n} = {e^{{- j}\; 2\;\pi\;{m \cdot \frac{dx}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}\;\theta\;\cos\;\phi}{e^{{- j}\; 2\;\pi\;{n \cdot \frac{dz}{\lambda} \cdot \cos}\;\theta}\left( {{0 \leq m \leq {M - 1}},{0 \leq n \leq {N - 1}}} \right)}}} & \left( {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 4} \right)\end{matrix}$

Although it may be possible for the antennas in the antenna array toform the multiple RF beams 200 in FIG. 2A in the multiple directions, anactual number of the RF beams 200 is typically limited by astandard-defined parameter known as the synchronization signal block(SSB), which is further discussed next in FIG. 2C. In this regard, FIG.2C is a graphic diagram providing an exemplary illustration on how theSSB limits the actual number the RF beams 200 that may be formed by theantennas in the antenna array.

In conventional wireless systems, such as the third-generation (3G) andthe fourth-generation (4G) wireless systems, a basestation is typicallyconfigured to radiate a cell-wide reference signal omnidirectionally toenable cell discovery and coverage measurement by an user equipment(UE). However, a fifth-generation new-radio (5G-NR) wireless system doesnot provide the cell-wide reference signal. Instead, as shown in FIG.2C, a 5G-NR gNB 216 is configured to radiate a number of reference beams218(1)-218(N) in different directions of a 5G-NR coverage cell. Thereference beams 218(1)-218(N) are associated with a number of SSBs220(1)-220(N), respectively. Each of SSBs 220(1)-220(N) may includeprimary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal(SSS), and 5G-NR physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

In this regard, a 5G-NR UE in the 5G-NR coverage cell can sweep throughthe reference beams 218(1)-218(N) to identify a candidate referencebeam(s) associated with a strongest reference signal received power(RSRP). Further, the 5G-NR UE may decode a candidate SSB(s) associatedwith the identified candidate reference beam(s) to acquire suchinformation as physical cell identification (PCI) and PBCH demodulationreference signal (DMRS). Based on the candidate reference beam(s)reported by the 5G-NR UE, the 5G-NR gNB 216 may pinpoint location of the5G-NR UE and steer a data-bearing RF beam toward the 5G-NR UE to enabledata communication with the 5G-NR UE.

The SSBs 220(1)-220(N) may be organized into an SSB burst set 222 to berepeated periodically in a number of SSB burst periods 224. The SSBburst set 222 may be five-millisecond (5 ms) in duration and the SSBburst periods 224 may repeat every twenty milliseconds (20 ms). Thebeamforming standard, as presently defined by the third-generationpartnership project (3GPP), allows a maximum of 64 SSBs to be scheduledin the SSB burst set 222. Accordingly, the 5G-NR gNB 216 can radiate 64reference beams 218(1)-218(N) in each of the SSB burst periods 224.

Understandably, the 5G-NR gNB 216 will be able to maximize coverage inthe 5G-NR coverage cell by radiating the maximum number (e.g., 64) ofthe reference beams 218(1)-218(N) in each of the SSB burst periods 224.However, radiating the maximum number of the reference beams218(1)-218(N) can introduce significant overhead in terms ofcomputational complexity and processing delay. As such, it may bedesirable to maximize coverage in the 5G-NR coverage cell by radiatingas lesser number of the reference beams 218(1)-218(N) as possible.

Furthermore, the 5G-NR gNB 216 may be configured to operate in an indoorenvironment (e.g., an office building, an indoor stadium, etc.) of anindoor communications system. The 5G-NR gNB 216 may initially beinstalled and configured based on a deployment plan developed based onsome generic assumptions of the coverage condition, such as officelayout, user density, throughput requirement, and so on. However, thecoverage condition may have changed, either suddenly or gradually, sincethe 5G-NR gNB 216 was installed, which may have invalidated some of theinitial assumptions. As such, it may also be desirable to dynamicallyreconfigure the 5G-NR gNB 216 in response to the change in the coveragecondition.

In this regard, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wirelesscommunications circuit 300 provided in a WCS 302 and configured tomodify a GoB 304 radiated in a wireless communications cell 306 inresponse to a coverage condition change in the wireless communicationscell 306. In a non-limiting example, the coverage condition changerefers to a change in configuration and/or operating status (e.g., userdensity, building layout, throughput requirement, etc.) in the WCS 302relative to a previously known status. The wireless communicationscircuit 300, which can be configured to function as a remote node (RN)or a remote unit (RU) in the WCS 302, includes an antenna array 308. Theantenna array 308 includes a plurality of radiating elements310(1,1)-310(M,N), which can be any type of antennas, as an example. Theradiating elements 310(1,1)-310(M,N) are configured to radiate aplurality of RF beams 312(1)-312(K) that collectively form the GoB 304to provide RF coverage in the wireless communications cell 306.

The wireless communications circuit 300 may be initially deployed in theWCS 302 based on an initial configuration plan of the wirelesscommunications cell 306. For example, FIG. 4A is a schematic diagramproviding an exemplary illustration of the initial configuration plan,which may have assumed that there is no obstacle in the wirelesscommunications cell 306. Accordingly, the wireless communicationscircuit 300 may be been configured to radiate the RF beams 312(1)-312(K)with an identical beamwidth. However, the initial configuration plan mayhave not taken into consideration specific environmental and/or usagecondications of the wireless communications cell 306. For example, FIG.4B is a schematic diagram providing an exemplary illustration of theinitial configuration plan, which has not accounted for a wall 400 inthe radiation paths of the RF beams 312(1) and 312(K). As a result, theRF beams 312(1) and 312(K) may have been formed with excessivebeamforming antenna gain, thus causing a waste of energy in the wirelesscommunications cell 306. In this regard, the coverage condition in thewireless communications cell 306 is said to have changed with respect tothe initial configuration plan.

The wireless communications circuit 300 can be configured to dynamicallymodify the GoB 304 in response to the coverage condition change in thewireless communications cell 306. In a non-limiting example, FIG. 4C isa schematic diagram providing an exemplary illustration of the wirelesscommunications circuit 300, which can combine the narrower RF beams312(1) and 312(K) in FIG. 4B to form a wider RF beam 312W with a widerbeamwidth in FIG. 4C. The wider RF beam 312W will have a reducedbeamforming antenna gain compared to the narrower RF beams 312(1) and312(K), thus helping to reduce energy waste in the wirelesscommunications cell 306. Alternative to combining the narrower RF beams312(1) and 312(K) into the wider RF beam 312W, the wirelesscommunications circuit 300 may also change the beamwidth of the narrowerRF beam 312(1) and terminate the narrower RF beam 312(K).

Notably, the scenario illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4C is merely one of themany possibilities that can cause the coverage condition change. Inanother non-limiting example, the wireless communications circuit 300may have been deployed based on an initial estimate of user density thathas either increased or decreased over time, thus demanding the wirelesscommunications circuit 300 to modify the GoB 304 to increase or decreasesignal bandwidth and/or data throughput in the wireless communicationscell 306.

In this regard, the wireless communications circuit 300 can beconfigured to dynamically modify the GoB 304 in response to any type ofthe coverage condition change. In a non-limiting example, the wirelesscommunications circuit 300 includes a control circuit 314, which can bea field-programmable gate array (FPGA), as an example. The controlcircuit 314 may be configured to receive an indication signal 316indicative of the coverage condition change and cause the antenna array308 to modify the GoB 304 in response to receiving the indication signal316. By dynamically modifying the GoB 304 based on the coveragecondition change, it may be possible to reduce processing and improveresource usage, data throughput, and system adaptability of the wirelesscommunications circuit 300, thus helping to optimize RF coverage in thewireless communications cell 306.

The control circuit 314 is configured to generate a plurality of beamweight sets W_(s1)-W_(sK) corresponding to the RF beams 312(1)-312(K),respectively. Each of the beam weight sets W_(s1)-W_(sK) includes aplurality of beam weights w_((1,1))-w_((M,N)) that corresponds to theradiating elements 310(1,1)-310(M,N) in the antenna array 308. Asexplained earlier in FIGS. 2A-2B, each of the beam weightsw_((1,1))-w_((M,N)) in each of the beam weight sets W_(s1)-W_(sK) is acomplex weight (A, θ, ϕ) consisting of a respective amplitude term A anda respective phase term (θ, ϕ). The phase terms (θ, ϕ) in the beamweight sets W_(s1)-W_(sK) can collectively cause each of the RF beams312(1)-312(K) to be formed in a respective direction. The amplitudeterms A in each of the beam weight sets W_(s1)-W_(sK) can determine howmany of the radiating elements 310(1,1)-310(M,N) are used to form eachof the RF beams 312(1)-312(K) and thus a respective beamwidth of each ofthe RF beams 312(1)-312(K). In this regard, the control circuit 314 maycause the antenna array 308 to modify the GoB 304 by modifying at leastone selected beam weight set W_(s1)-W_(sK) in response to the coveragecondition change.

The wireless communications circuit 300 can include a beamformer circuit318, which can be implemented by a system-on-chip (SoC), as an example.The beamformer circuit 318 is configured to receive the beam weight setsW_(s1)-W_(sK) from the control circuit 314. The beamformer circuit 318can be configured to receive and process an RF communications signal 320based on the beam weights w_((1,1))-w_((M,N)) in each of the beam weightsets W_(s1)-W_(sK) to generate a plurality of weighted RF communicationssignals 322(1,1)-322(M,N). The radiating elements 310(1,1)-310(M,N) inthe antenna array 308 are configured to radiate the weighted RFcommunications signals 322(1,1)-322(M,N) simultaneously to form arespective RF beam among the RF beams 312(1)-312(K) that corresponds toa respective beam weight set among the beam weight sets W_(s1)-W_(sK).In this regard, the beamformer circuit 318 is configured to generate atotal of ‘K’ sets of the weighted RF communications signals322(1,1)-322(M,N) for forming and/or modifying the RF beams312(1)-312(K), respectively.

The wireless communications circuit 300 may be configured to include asignal processing circuit 324, which can be an FPGA, as an example,configured to provide the RF communications signal 320 to the beamformercircuit 318. The signal processing circuit 324 may be provided in aseparate circuit from the control circuit 314 or integrated with thecontrol circuit 314 in a same circuit. The signal processing circuit 324may be coupled to a central unit 326 via a communications medium 328(e.g., an optical fiber-based communications medium). Notably, thecentral unit 326 can be provided in a different location (e.g.,different room, floor, or building) from the location of the wirelesscommunications circuit 300. In this regard, the central unit 326 and thewireless communications circuit 300 correspond to different entities inthe WCS 302.

The signal processing circuit 324 is configured to receive a downlinkdigital communications signal 330D from the central unit 326 andgenerate the RF communications signal 320 based on the downlink digitalcommunications signal 330D. The signal processing circuit 324 is alsoconfigured to receive an uplink RF communications signal 332 via theantenna array 308. The signal processing circuit 324 is configured togenerate an uplink digital communications signal 330U based on theuplink RF communications signal 332 and provide the uplink digitalcommunications signal 330U to the central unit 326 via thecommunications medium 328.

The signal processing circuit 324 and the central unit 326 may beconfigured to carry out different networking functions. For example, thesignal processing circuit 324 can be configured to implement such lowerlayer networking protocols as physical (PHY), medium access control(MAC), and radio link control (RLC) protocols. The central unit 326, onthe other hand, may be configured to implement such higher layernetworking protocols as packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radioresource management (RRM), above layer-3 (L3+) protocols such astransport control protocol (TCP) and internet protocol (IP), andself-organizing network (SON) protocols.

In one embodiment, the signal processing circuit 324 may be configuredto determine the coverage condition change in the wirelesscommunications cell 306 based on one or more coverage indicationparameters and generate the indication signal 316 accordingly. In anon-limiting example, the coverage indication parameters can include areference signal received power (RSRP) measurement(s) reported by aUE(s) in the wireless communications cell 306 (e.g., along with theuplink RF communications signal 332), a UE count in the wirelesscommunications cell 306, a resource usage indicator (e.g., resourceblock (RB) usage), and/or a UE timing advance indication. The RSRPmeasurement(s) may help determine whether a selected RF beam(s) amongthe RF beams 312(1)-312(K) has excessive beamforming antenna gain. TheUE count and/or the resource usage indicator may help determine howefficiently the resources are used in the wireless communications cell306 and whether more resources are required to increase throughput inthe wireless communications cell 306. The UE timing advance indicatormay help determine a distance(s) between a UE(s) in the wirelesscommunications cell 306 and the antenna array 308. The signal processingcircuit 324 may be configured to retrieve some or all of the coverageindication parameters (e.g., the UE count, the resource usage indicator,and/or the UE timing advance indicator) from the central unit 326.

In another embodiment, the central unit 326 may be configured todetermine the coverage condition change in the wireless communicationscell 306 based on the coverage indication parameters, as describedabove, and generate the indication signal 316 accordingly. The centralunit 326 may be configured to execute an adaptive GoB optimizationalgorithm to determine the coverage condition change and generate theindication signal 316 indicative of the coverage condition change. Thecentral unit 326 may be further configured to provide beamforminginstructions to the control circuit 314 to cause the control circuit 324to modify the selected the beam weight sets W_(s1)-W_(sK) in response tothe coverage condition change. The central unit 326 may be configured toretrieve some or all of the coverage indication parameters from thesignal processing circuit 324.

In another embodiment, both the signal processing circuit 324 and thecentral unit 326 may be configured to generate and provide theindication signal 316 to the control circuit 314. For example, thesignal processing circuit 324 can generate the indication signal 316based on a shorter-term (e.g., a minute or an hour) coverage conditionchange in a particular wireless communications cell, while the centralunit 326 is configured to generate the indication signal 316 based on alonger-term (e.g., a day or a week) coverage condition change in one ormore wireless communications cells. In this regard, the control circuit314 may be configured to determine how the GoB 304 is modified based onthe indication signal 316 received from the signal processing circuit324 and/or the indication signal 316 received from the central unit 326.It should be appreciated that the control circuit 314 may be configuredto receive the indication signal 316 from other entities (e.g., aneighboring wireless communications circuit in the WCS 302) as well.

The wireless communications circuit 300 may be configured to adapt theGoB 304 in response to the coverage condition change in the wirelesscommunications cell 306 based on a process. In this regard, FIG. 5 is aflowchart of an exemplary process 500 that can be employed by thewireless communications circuit 300 of FIG. 3 to modify the GoB 304 inresponse to the coverage condition change in the wireless communicationscell 306.

With reference to the process 500, the antenna array 308 is configuredto radiate the GoB 304, which includes the RF beams 312(1)-312(K)corresponding to the RF communications signal 320, in the wirelesscommunications cell 306 (block 502). The control circuit 314 receivesthe indication signal 316 indicative of the coverage condition change inthe wireless communications cell 306 (block 504). Accordingly, thecontrol circuit 314 is configured to cause the antenna array 308 tomodify the GoB 304 in response to the coverage condition change in thewireless communications cell 306 (block 506).

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram an exemplary WCS 600 provided in the formof an optical fiber-based WDS 600 that can include a plurality of remoteunits, which can incorporate the wireless communications circuit 300 ofFIG. 3 to modify the GoB 304 in response to the coverage conditionchange in the wireless communications cell 306. The WCS 600 includes anoptical fiber for distributing communications services for multiplefrequency bands. The WCS 600 in this example is comprised of three (3)main components. A plurality of radio interfaces provided in the form ofradio interface modules (RIMs) 602(1)-602(M) are provided in a centralunit 604 to receive and process a plurality of downlink digitalcommunications signals 606D(1)-606D(R) prior to optical conversion intodownlink optical fiber-based communications signals. The downlinkdigital communications signals 606D(1)-606D(R) may be received from abase station or a baseband unit as an example. The RIMs 602(1)-602(M)provide both downlink and uplink interfaces for signal processing. Thenotations “1-R” and “1-M” indicate that any number of the referencedcomponent, 1-R and 1-M, respectively, may be provided. The central unit604 is configured to accept the RIMs 602(1)-602(M) as modular componentsthat can easily be installed and removed or replaced in the central unit604. In one example, the central unit 604 is configured to support up totwelve (12) RIMs 602(1)-602(12). Each of the RIMs 602(1)-602(M) can bedesigned to support a particular type of radio source or range of radiosources (i.e., frequencies) to provide flexibility in configuring thecentral unit 604 and the WCS 600 to support the desired radio sources.

For example, one RIM 602 may be configured to support the PersonalizedCommunications System (PCS) radio band. Another RIM 602 may beconfigured to support the 800 megahertz (MHz) radio band. In thisexample, by inclusion of the RIMs 602(1)-602(M), the central unit 604could be configured to support and distribute communications signals onboth PCS and Long-Term Evolution (LTE) 700 radio bands, as an example.The RIMs 602(1)-602(M) may be provided in the central unit 604 thatsupport any frequency bands desired, including, but not limited to, theUS Cellular band, PCS band, Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) band, 700MHz band, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) 900, GSM 1800,and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The RIMs602(1)-602(M) may also be provided in the central unit 604 that supportany wireless technologies desired, including but not limited to CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA), CDMA200, 1×RTT, Evolution—Data Only(EV-DO), UMTS, High-speed Packet Access (HSPA), GSM, General PacketRadio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA), LTE, iDEN, and Cellular Digital PacketData (CDPD).

The RIMs 602(1)-602(M) may be provided in the central unit 604 thatsupport any frequencies desired, including but not limited to US FCC andIndustry Canada frequencies (824-849 MHz on uplink and 869-894 MHz ondownlink), US FCC and Industry Canada frequencies (1850-1915 MHz onuplink and 1930-1995 MHz on downlink), US FCC and Industry Canadafrequencies (1710-1755 MHz on uplink and 2110-2155 MHz on downlink), USFCC frequencies (698-716 MHz and 776-787 MHz on uplink and 728-746 MHzon downlink), EU R & TTE frequencies (880-915 MHz on uplink and 925-960MHz on downlink), EU R & TTE frequencies (1710-1785 MHz on uplink and1805-1880 MHz on downlink), EU R & TTE frequencies (1920-1980 MHz onuplink and 2110-2170 MHz on downlink), US FCC frequencies (806-824 MHzon uplink and 851-869 MHz on downlink), US FCC frequencies (896-901 MHzon uplink and 929-941 MHz on downlink), US FCC frequencies (793-805 MHzon uplink and 763-775 MHz on downlink), and US FCC frequencies(2495-2690 MHz on uplink and downlink).

With continuing reference to FIG. 6, the downlink digital communicationssignals 606D(1)-606D(R) are provided to a plurality of opticalinterfaces provided in the form of optical interface modules (OIMs)608(1)-608(N) in this embodiment to convert the downlink digitalcommunications signals 606D(1)-606D(R) into a plurality of downlinkoptical fiber-based communications signals 610D(1)-610D(R). The notation“1-N” indicates that any number of the referenced component 1-N may beprovided. The OIMs 608(1)-608(N) may be configured to provide aplurality of optical interface components (OICs) that containoptical-to-electrical (O/E) and electrical-to-optical (E/O) converters,as will be described in more detail below. The OIMs 608(1)-608(N)support the radio bands that can be provided by the RIMs 602(1)-602(M),including the examples previously described above.

The OIMs 608(1)-608(N) each include E/O converters to convert thedownlink digital communications signals 606D(1)-606D(R) into thedownlink optical fiber-based communications signals 610D(1)-610D(R). Thedownlink optical fiber-based communications signals 610D(1)-610D(R) arecommunicated over a downlink optical fiber-based communications medium612D to a plurality of remote units 614(1)-614(S). At least one selectedremote unit among the remote units 614(1)-614(S) can be configured tofunction as the wireless communications circuit 300 of FIG. 3. Thenotation “1-S” indicates that any number of the referenced component 1-Smay be provided. Remote unit O/E converters provided in the remote units614(1)-614(S) convert the downlink optical fiber-based communicationssignals 610D(1)-610D(R) back into the downlink digital communicationssignals 606D(1)-606D(R), which are the converted into a plurality ofdownlink RF communications signals and provided to antennas616(1)-616(S) in the remote units 614(1)-614(S) to client devices in thereception range of the antennas 616(1)-616(S).

The remote units 614(1)-614(S) receive a plurality of uplink RFcommunications signals from the client devices through the antennas616(1)-616(S). The remote units 614(1)-614(S) convert the uplink RFcommunications signals 618U(1)-618U(S) into a plurality of uplinkdigital communications signals 618U(1)-618U(S). Remote unit E/Oconverters are also provided in the remote units 614(1)-614(S) toconvert the uplink digital communications signals 618U(1)-618U(S) into aplurality of uplink optical fiber-based communications signals610U(1)-610U(S). The remote units 614(1)-614(S) communicate the uplinkoptical fiber-based communications signals 610U(1)-610U(S) over anuplink optical fiber-based communications medium 612U to the OIMs608(1)-608(N) in the central unit 604. The OIMs 608(1)-608(N) includeO/E converters that convert the received uplink optical fiber-basedcommunications signals 610U(1)-610U(S) into a plurality of uplinkdigital communications signals 620U(1)-620U(S), which are processed bythe RIMs 602(1)-602(M) and provided as the uplink digital communicationssignals 620U(1)-620U(S). The central unit 604 may provide the uplinkdigital communications signals 620U(1)-620U(S) to a base station orother communications system.

Note that the downlink optical fiber-based communications medium 612Dand the uplink optical fiber-based communications medium 612U connectedto each of the remote units 614(1)-614(S) may be a common opticalfiber-based communications medium, wherein for example, wave divisionmultiplexing (WDM) is employed to provide the downlink opticalfiber-based communications signals 610D(1)-610D(R) and the uplinkoptical fiber-based communications signals 610U(1)-610U(S) on the sameoptical fiber-based communications medium.

The WCS 600 in FIG. 6 can be provided in an indoor environment asillustrated in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a partial schematic cut-away diagram ofan exemplary building infrastructure 700 incorporating the WCS 600 ofFIG. 6. The building infrastructure 700 in this embodiment includes afirst (ground) floor 702(1), a second floor 702(2), and a third floor702(3). The floors 702(1)-702(3) are serviced by a central unit 704 toprovide antenna coverage areas 706 in the building infrastructure 700.The central unit 704 is communicatively coupled to a base station 708 toreceive downlink communications signals 710D from the base station 708.The central unit 704 is communicatively coupled to a plurality of remoteunits 712 to distribute the downlink communications signals 710D to theremote units 712 and to receive uplink communications signals 710U fromthe remote units 712, as previously discussed above. In a non-limitingexample, any of the remote units 712 can be configured to incorporatethe wireless communications circuit 300 of FIG. 3 to modify the GoB 304in response to the coverage condition change in the wirelesscommunications cell 306. The downlink communications signals 710D andthe uplink communications signals 710U communicated between the centralunit 704 and the remote units 712 are carried over a riser cable 714.The riser cable 714 may be routed through interconnect units (ICUs)716(1)-716(3) dedicated to each of the floors 702(1)-702(3) that routethe downlink communications signals 710D and the uplink communicationssignals 710U to the remote units 712 and also provide power to theremote units 712 via array cables 718.

The WCS 600 of FIG. 6, which includes the wireless communicationscircuit 300 of FIG. 3 to modify the GoB 304 in response to the coveragecondition change in the wireless communications cell 306, can also beinterfaced with different types of radio nodes of service providersand/or supporting service providers, including macrocell systems, smallcell systems, and remote radio heads (RRH) systems, as examples. Forexample, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary mobiletelecommunications environment 800 (also referred to as “environment800”) that includes radio nodes and cells that may support sharedspectrum, such as unlicensed spectrum, and can be interfaced to sharedspectrum distributed communications systems (DCSs) 801 supportingcoordination of distribution of shared spectrum from multiple serviceproviders to remote units to be distributed to subscriber devices. Theshared spectrum DCSs 801 can include the WCS 600 of FIG. 6 as anexample.

The environment 800 includes exemplary macrocell RANs 802(1)-802(M)(“macrocells 802(1)-802(M)”) and an exemplary small cell RAN 804 locatedwithin an enterprise environment 806 and configured to service mobilecommunications between a user mobile communications device 808(1)-808(N)to a mobile network operator (MNO) 810. A serving RAN for a user mobilecommunications device 808(1)-808(N) is a RAN or cell in the RAN in whichthe user mobile communications devices 808(1)-808(N) have an establishedcommunications session with the exchange of mobile communicationssignals for mobile communications. Thus, a serving RAN may also bereferred to herein as a serving cell. For example, the user mobilecommunications devices 808(3)-808(N) in FIG. 8 are being serviced by thesmall cell RAN 804, whereas user mobile communications devices 808(1)and 808(2) are being serviced by the macrocell 802. The macrocell 802 isan MNO macrocell in this example. However, a shared spectrum RAN 803(also referred to as “shared spectrum cell 803”) includes a macrocell inthis example and supports communications on frequencies that are notsolely licensed to a particular MNO and thus may service user mobilecommunications devices 808(1)-808(N) independent of a particular MNO.For example, the shared spectrum cell 803 may be operated by a thirdparty that is not an MNO and wherein the shared spectrum cell 803supports CBRS. Also, as shown in FIG. 8, the MNO macrocell 802, theshared spectrum cell 803, and/or the small cell RAN 804 can interfacewith a shared spectrum DCS 801 supporting coordination of distributionof shared spectrum from multiple service providers to remote units to bedistributed to subscriber devices. The MNO macrocell 802, the sharedspectrum cell 803, and the small cell RAN 804 may be neighboring radioaccess systems to each other, meaning that some or all can be inproximity to each other such that a user mobile communications device808(3)-808(N) may be able to be in communications range of two or moreof the MNO macrocell 802, the shared spectrum cell 803, and the smallcell RAN 804 depending on the location of user mobile communicationsdevices 808(3)-808(N).

In FIG. 8, the mobile telecommunications environment 800 in this exampleis arranged as an LTE (Long Term Evolution) system as described by theThird Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as an evolution of theGSM/UMTS standards (Global System for Mobile communication/UniversalMobile Telecommunications System). It is emphasized, however, that theaspects described herein may also be applicable to other network typesand protocols. The mobile telecommunications environment 800 includesthe enterprise 806 in which the small cell RAN 804 is implemented. Thesmall cell RAN 804 includes a plurality of small cell radio nodes812(1)-812(C). Each small cell radio node 812(1)-812(C) has a radiocoverage area (graphically depicted in the drawings as a hexagonalshape) that is commonly termed a “small cell.” A small cell may also bereferred to as a femtocell or, using terminology defined by 3GPP, as aHome Evolved Node B (HeNB). In the description that follows, the term“cell” typically means the combination of a radio node and its radiocoverage area unless otherwise indicated. In a non-limiting example,each of the small cell radio nodes 812(1)-812(C) can be configured toincorporate the wireless communications circuit 300 of FIG. 3 to modifythe GoB 304 in response to the coverage condition change in the wirelesscommunications cell 306.

In FIG. 8, the small cell RAN 804 includes one or more services nodes(represented as a single services node 814) that manage and control thesmall cell radio nodes 812(1)-812(C) In alternative implementations, themanagement and control functionality may be incorporated into a radionode, distributed among nodes, or implemented remotely (i.e., usinginfrastructure external to the small cell RAN 804). The small cell radionodes 812(1)-812(C) are coupled to the services node 814 over a director local area network (LAN) connection 816 as an example, typicallyusing secure IPsec tunnels. The small cell radio nodes 812(1)-812(C) caninclude multi-operator radio nodes. The services node 814 aggregatesvoice and data traffic from the small cell radio nodes 812(1)-812(C) andprovides connectivity over an IPsec tunnel to a security gateway (SeGW)818 in a network 820 (e.g, evolved packet core (EPC) network in a 4Gnetwork, or 5G Core in a 5G network) of the MNO 810. The network 820 istypically configured to communicate with a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN) 822 to carry circuit-switched traffic, as well as forcommunicating with an external packet-switched network such as theInternet 824.

The environment 800 also generally includes a node (e.g., eNodeB orgNodeB) base station, or “macrocell” 802. The radio coverage area of themacrocell 802 is typically much larger than that of a small cell wherethe extent of coverage often depends on the base station configurationand surrounding geography. Thus, a given user mobile communicationsdevice 808(3)-808(N) may achieve connectivity to the network 820 (e.g,EPC network in a 4G network, or 5G Core in a 5G network) through eithera macrocell 802 or small cell radio node 812(1)-812(C) in the small cellRAN 804 in the environment 800.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary DCS 900 that supports4G and 5G communications services, and wherein any of the radio nodescan be configured to provide feedbackless interference estimation andsuppression, according to any of the embodiments herein. The DCS 900supports both legacy 4G LTE, 4G/5G non-standalone (NSA), and 5Gcommunications systems. As shown in FIG. 9, a centralized services node902, such as the central unit 326 in FIG. 3, is provided that isconfigured to interface with a core network to exchange communicationsdata and distribute the communications data as radio signals to remoteunits. In this example, the centralized services node 902 is configuredto support distributed communications services to a millimeter wave(mmW) radio node 904. The functions of the centralized services node 902can be virtualized through an x2 interface 906 to another services node908. The centralized services node 902 can also include one or moreinternal radio nodes that are configured to be interfaced with adistribution node 910 to distribute communications signals for the radionodes to an open RAN (O-RAN) remote unit 912 that is configured to becommunicatively coupled through an O-RAN interface 914.

The centralized services node 902 can also be interfaced through an x2interface 916 to a baseband unit (BBU) 918 that can provide a digitalsignal source to the centralized services node 902. The BBU 918 isconfigured to provide a signal source to the centralized services node902 to provide radio source signals 920 to the O-RAN remote unit 912 aswell as to a distributed router unit (DRU) 922 as part of a digital DAS.The DRU 922 is configured to split and distribute the radio sourcesignals 920 to different types of remote units, including a lower powerremote unit (LPR) 924, a radio antenna unit (dRAU) 926, a mid-powerremote unit (dMRU) 928, and a high power remote unit (dHRU) 930. The BBU918 is also configured to interface with a third party central unit 932and/or an analog source 934 through an RF/digital converter 936.

Any of the circuits in the wireless communications circuit 300 of FIG. 3(e.g., the control circuit 314) can include a computer system 1000, suchas shown in FIG. 10, to modify the GoB 304 in response to the coveragecondition change in the wireless communications cell 306. With referenceto FIG. 10, the computer system 1000 includes a set of instructions forcausing the multi-operator radio node component(s) to provide itsdesigned functionality, and their circuits discussed above. Themulti-operator radio node component(s) may be connected (e.g.,networked) to other machines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet, or theInternet. The multi-operator radio node component(s) may operate in aclient-server network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. While only a singledevice is illustrated, the term “device” shall also be taken to includeany collection of devices that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein. The multi-operator radio nodecomponent(s) may be a circuit or circuits included in an electronicboard card, such as a printed circuit board (PCB) as an example, aserver, a personal computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a computing pad, a mobile device, orany other device, and may represent, for example, a server, edgecomputer, or a user's computer. The exemplary computer system 1000 inthis embodiment includes a processing circuit or processor 1002, a mainmemory 1004 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), etc.), and astatic memory 1006 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory(SRAM), etc.), which may communicate with each other via a data bus1008. Alternatively, the processing circuit 1002 may be connected to themain memory 1004 and/or static memory 1006 directly or via some otherconnectivity means. The processing circuit 1002 may be a controller, andthe main memory 1004 or static memory 1006 may be any type of memory.

The processing circuit 1002 represents one or more general-purposeprocessing circuits such as a microprocessor, central processing unit,or the like. More particularly, the processing circuit 1002 may be acomplex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, a reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, a very long instructionword (VLIW) microprocessor, a processor implementing other instructionsets, or processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Theprocessing circuit 1002 is configured to execute processing logic ininstructions 1016 for performing the operations and steps discussedherein.

The computer system 1000 may further include a network interface device1010. The computer system 1000 also may or may not include an input 1012to receive input and selections to be communicated to the computersystem 1000 when executing instructions. The computer system 1000 alsomay or may not include an output 1014, including but not limited to adisplay, a video display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or acathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device (e.g., akeyboard), and/or a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse).

The computer system 1000 may or may not include a data storage devicethat includes instructions 1016 stored in a computer-readable medium1018. The instructions 1016 may also reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 1004 and/or within the processingcircuit 1002 during execution thereof by the computer system 1000, themain memory 1004 and the processing circuit 1002 also constitutingcomputer-readable medium. The instructions 1016 may further betransmitted or received over a network 1020 via the network interfacedevice 1010.

While the computer-readable medium 1018 is shown in an exemplaryembodiment to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable medium”should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructionsfor execution by the processing circuit and that cause the processingcircuit to perform any one or more of the methodologies of theembodiments disclosed herein. The term “computer-readable medium” shallaccordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-statememories, optical and magnetic medium, and carrier wave signals.

Note that as an example, any “ports,” “combiners,” “splitters,” andother “circuits” mentioned in this description may be implemented usingField Programmable Logic Array(s) (FPGA(s)) and/or a digital signalprocessor(s) (DSP(s)), and therefore, may be embedded within the FPGA orbe performed by computational processes.

The embodiments disclosed herein include various steps. The steps of theembodiments disclosed herein may be performed by hardware components ormay be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used tocause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with theinstructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, the steps may beperformed by a combination of hardware and software.

The embodiments disclosed herein may be provided as a computer programproduct, or software, that may include a machine-readable medium (orcomputer-readable medium) having stored thereon instructions, which maybe used to program a computer system (or other electronic devices) toperform a process according to the embodiments disclosed herein. Amachine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). For example, a machine-readable medium includes amachine-readable storage medium (e.g., read only memory (“ROM”), randomaccess memory (“RAM”), magnetic disk storage medium, optical storagemedium, flash memory devices, etc.).

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field ProgrammableGate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A controllermay be a processor. A processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in hardware and ininstructions that are stored in hardware, and may reside, for example,in Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM),Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable ROM (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of computer-readable medium known in the art.An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a remote station. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in aremote station, base station, or server.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, it is in no way intended that anymethod set forth herein be construed as requiring that its steps beperformed in a specific order. Accordingly, where a method claim doesnot actually recite an order to be followed by its steps or it is nototherwise specifically stated in the claims or descriptions that thesteps are to be limited to a specific order, it is no way intended thatany particular order be inferred. It will be apparent to those skilledin the art that various modifications and variations can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention. Since modificationscombinations, sub-combinations and variations of the disclosedembodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention mayoccur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construedto include everything within the scope of the appended claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless communications circuit, comprising: anantenna array comprising a plurality of radiating elements configured toradiate a grid of beams (GoB) comprising a plurality of radio frequency(RF) beams corresponding to an RF communications signal in a wirelesscommunications cell; and a control circuit configured to: receive afirst indication signal indicative of a short-term coverage conditionchange in the wireless communications cell and a second indicationsignal indicative of a long-term coverage condition change in thewireless communications cell; and cause the antenna array to modify theGoB in response to the short-term coverage condition change and thelong-term coverage condition change in the wireless communications cell.2. The wireless communications circuit of claim 1, wherein the controlcircuit is configured to cause the antenna array to modify the GoB tochange a beamwidth of a selected RF beam among the plurality of RFbeams.
 3. The wireless communications circuit of claim 1, wherein thecontrol circuit is configured to cause the antenna array to modify theGoB to combine at least two RF beams among the plurality of RF beams. 4.The wireless communications circuit of claim 1, wherein the controlcircuit is configured to cause the antenna array to modify the GoB toeliminate a selected RF beam.
 5. The wireless communications circuit ofclaim 1, further comprising a beamformer circuit configured to: receivea plurality of beam weight sets corresponding to the plurality of RFbeams, respectively, from the control circuit; and process the RFcommunications signal based on each of the plurality of beam weight setsto generate a plurality of weighted RF communications signalscorresponding to the plurality of radiating elements, respectively. 6.The wireless communications circuit of claim 5, wherein the controlcircuit is further configured to modify at least one beam weight setamong the plurality of beam weight sets to cause the antenna array tomodify the GoB.
 7. The wireless communications circuit of claim 1,further comprising a signal processing circuit configured to: determinethe short-term coverage condition change in the wireless communicationscell based on at least one coverage indication parameter; and generatethe first indication signal indicative of the short-term coveragecondition change in the wireless communications cell.
 8. The wirelesscommunications circuit of claim 7, wherein the signal processing circuitis further configured to determine the short-term coverage conditionchange in the wireless communications cell based on the at least onecoverage indication parameter selected from the group consisting of: areference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a user equipment(UE) count, a resource usage indicator, and a UE timing advanceindicator.
 9. A method for adapting a grid of beams (GoB) in a wirelesscommunications circuit, comprising: radiating a GoB comprising aplurality of radio frequency (RF) beams corresponding to an RFcommunications signal in a wireless communications cell; receiving afirst indication signal indicative of a short-term coverage conditionchange in the wireless communications cell and a second indicationsignal indicative of a long-term coverage condition change in thewireless communications cell; and modifying the GoB in response to theshort-term coverage condition change and the long-term coveragecondition change in the wireless communications cell.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising modifying the GoB to change a beamwidth of aselected RF beam among the plurality of RF beams.
 11. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising modifying the GoB to combine at least two RFbeams among the plurality of RF beams.
 12. The method of claim 9,further comprising modifying the GoB to eliminate a selected RF beam.13. The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving a plurality ofbeam weight sets corresponding to the plurality of RF beams,respectively; and processing the RF communications signal based on eachof the plurality of beam weight sets to generate a plurality of weightedRF communications signals.
 14. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising modifying at least one beam weight set among the plurality ofbeam weight sets to cause the GoB to be modified.
 15. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising: determining the short-term coveragecondition change in the wireless communications cell based on at leastone coverage indication parameter; and generating the first indicationsignal indicative of the short-term coverage condition change in thewireless communications cell.
 16. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising determining the short-term coverage condition change in thewireless communications cell based on the at least one coverageindication parameter selected from the group consisting of: a referencesignal received power (RSRP) measurement, a user equipment (UE) count, aresource usage indicator, and a UE timing advance indicator.
 17. Awireless communications system (WCS), comprising: a central unit; and aplurality of remote units coupled to the central unit via a plurality ofcommunications mediums, the plurality of remote units configured to:receive a plurality of downlink digital communications signals from thecentral unit via the plurality of communications mediums, respectively;convert the plurality of downlink digital communications signals into aplurality of downlink radio frequency (RF) communications signals,respectively; distribute the plurality of downlink RF communicationssignals, respectively; receive a plurality of uplink RF communicationssignals, respectively; convert the plurality of uplink RF communicationssignals into a plurality of uplink digital communications signals,respectively; and provide the plurality of uplink digital communicationssignals to the central unit via the plurality of communications mediums,respectively; wherein at least one remote unit among the plurality ofremote units comprises: an antenna array comprising a plurality ofradiating elements configured to radiate a grid of beams (GoB)comprising a plurality of RF beams corresponding to an RF communicationssignal among the plurality of downlink RF communications signals in awireless communications cell; and a control circuit configured to:receive a first indication signal indicative of a short-term coveragecondition change in the wireless communications cell and a secondindication signal indicative of a long-term coverage condition change inthe wireless communication cell; and cause the antenna array to modifythe GoB in response to the short-term coverage condition change and thelong-term coverage condition change in the wireless communications cell.18. The WCS of claim 17, wherein the control circuit is configured tocause the antenna array to modify the GoB to change a beamwidth of aselected RF beam among the plurality of RF beams.
 19. The WCS of claim17, wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the antenna arrayto modify the GoB to combine at least two RF beams among the pluralityof RF beams.
 20. The WCS of claim 17, wherein the control circuit isfurther configured to cause the antenna array to modify the GoB toeliminate a selected RF beam.
 21. The WCS of claim 17, wherein the atleast one remote unit further comprises a beamformer circuit configuredto: receive a plurality of beam weight sets corresponding to theplurality of RF beams, respectively, from the control circuit; andprocess the RF communications signal based on each of the plurality ofbeam weight sets to generate a plurality of weighted RF communicationssignals corresponding to the plurality of radiating elements,respectively.
 22. The WCS of claim 21, wherein the control circuit isfurther configured to modify at least one beam weight set among theplurality of beam weight sets to cause the antenna array to modify theGoB.
 23. The WCS of claim 17, wherein the at least one remote unitfurther comprises a signal processing circuit configured to: determinethe short-term coverage condition change in the wireless communicationscell based on at least one coverage indication parameter; and generatethe first indication signal indicative of the short-term coveragecondition change in the wireless communications cell.
 24. The WCS ofclaim 23, wherein the signal processing circuit is further configured todetermine the short-term coverage condition change in the wirelesscommunications cell based on the at least one coverage indicationparameter selected from the group consisting of: a reference signalreceived power (RSRP) measurement, a user equipment (UE) count, aresource usage indicator, and a UE timing advance indicator.
 25. The WCSof claim 17, wherein the central unit is further configured to: executean adaptive GoB optimization algorithm to determine the long-termcoverage condition change in the wireless communications cell; andgenerate the second indication signal indicative of the long-termcoverage condition change.
 26. The WCS of claim 17, wherein: theplurality of communications mediums corresponds to a plurality ofoptical fiber-based communications mediums, respectively; the centralunit comprises: a plurality of electrical-to-optical (E/O) convertersconfigured to convert the plurality of downlink digital communicationssignals into a plurality of downlink optical communications signals fordistribution to the plurality of remote units; and a plurality ofoptical-to-electrical (O/E) converters configured to convert a pluralityof uplink optical communications signals into the plurality of uplinkdigital communications signals; and the plurality of remote unitscomprises: a plurality of remote unit O/E converters configured toconvert the plurality of downlink optical communications signals intothe plurality of downlink digital communications signals; and aplurality of remote unit E/O converters configured to convert theplurality of uplink digital communications signals into the plurality ofuplink optical communications signals.